After leaving Chinatsu's side, Hidan and Kakuzu quickly returned to one of Akatsuki's temporary hideouts. Since Chinatsu intended to infiltrate the Akatsuki naturally rather than forcefully barging in, the two immediately began discussing a plan.
Or rather…
They began arguing.
Kakuzu's approach emphasized one thing above all else:
"Stability."
Meanwhile, Hidan's philosophy revolved entirely around another word:
"Recklessness!"
"That guy recruited me by beating me half to death anyway," Hidan declared confidently while standing with his hands on his hips. "So all we have to do is complain to him! We say we got beaten up during a mission, then Pain will definitely become interested in the person who did it!"
Hidan became more excited the more he spoke.
"After that, Young Lady can disguise herself as someone else and reenact the glorious scene where I got smashed into the ground by that guy before. Then Pain will definitely invite her into Akatsuki!"
Hidan proudly puffed out his chest after presenting the "masterpiece strategy" he had carefully thought about for several days.
Kakuzu silently stared at him for several seconds.
Then he slowly shook his head.
"Too crude."
"Hah?!"
"Think about it carefully," Kakuzu said calmly. "Someone capable of beating both of us that badly would already be a monstrous existence in the ninja world. Pain wouldn't become interested in the boss."
"He'd become wary of her."
Kakuzu crossed his arms.
"If things go badly, Pain might even decide to eliminate the boss immediately. And even if she joins successfully, she'll constantly be monitored by the Rinnegan."
"No. Your plan is garbage."
The moment Kakuzu bluntly rejected his carefully designed masterpiece, Hidan instantly exploded like a lit explosive tag.
"What did you say, you old miser?!"
"What I said was the truth."
"You're just jealous because my idea is better!"
"Better? Your brain probably has less wrinkles than Samehada."
The two immediately began loudly arguing inside the Akatsuki hideout.
At first they argued about the infiltration plan.
Then it evolved into attacking each other's personalities.
And eventually it became pure insults.
Hidan: "You cheap money-grubbing corpse collector!"
Kakuzu: "You brainless cult lunatic!"
In this battle of verbal abuse, Kakuzu held an overwhelming advantage. After all, he was an old monster who had survived since the era of the First Hokage, even once surviving an assassination attempt against Hashirama Senju himself.
Compared to someone like Hidan, Kakuzu's experience level was simply unfair.
The noisy commotion quickly attracted the attention of the other Akatsuki members nearby.
One after another, figures emerged to watch the show.
"Stop arguing, stop arguing. We're all teammates here," someone lazily commented.
"Heh heh, this atmosphere is great," another voice laughed. "Need me to make things even bloodier?"
"So noisy…"
A cold and impatient voice cut through the room.
The person speaking was none other than Sasori, who clearly looked annoyed by the disturbance.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu suddenly had an idea.
Without warning, he clenched his fist and punched Hidan directly in the face.
BANG!!!
Caught completely off guard, Hidan flew backward and smashed into the ground.
"You actually hit me?!"
Hidan slowly covered his face and stared at Kakuzu in disbelief.
"This partnership can't continue anymore!" Kakuzu roared furiously while secretly trying to signal with his eyes.
Unfortunately…
Hidan completely failed to understand the hint.
"You wanna fight?! Then let's fight!"
Hidan instantly grabbed his triple-bladed scythe and charged forward with killing intent exploding from his body.
Kakuzu nearly cursed out loud internally.
Idiot! This is part of the act!
But now that Hidan had already charged in, Kakuzu could only cooperate and defend himself.
The two instantly began clashing fiercely.
Hidan's immortality from the Jashin religion made him completely fearless, while Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear and multiple hearts made him absurdly durable as well.
Neither side was likely to die quickly.
However, internal conflict was strictly forbidden within Akatsuki.
The battle had barely lasted a short while before countless sheets of white paper suddenly flew into the battlefield.
The paper rapidly formed a massive wall between the two men.
At the same time, a terrifying pressure filled the room.
A figure slowly stepped forward.
The ripple-patterned Rinnegan gazed down coldly upon everyone present.
Pain had arrived.
He casually raised one hand.
BOOM!
An invisible repulsive force erupted outward.
Even Kakuzu and Hidan couldn't resist the Shinra Tensei and were instantly blasted backward, crashing hard into opposite walls.
"The Akatsuki does not permit internal conflict."
Pain's voice was low and emotionless.
The noisy hideout instantly became silent.
Hidan gritted his teeth and looked ready to speak, but Kakuzu immediately interrupted him first.
"It's this idiot's fault. I want a new partner."
"A new partner?"
Pain stared at Kakuzu.
"There are very few people capable of partnering with you. Weren't the two of you cooperating adequately before?"
"Our values are completely different," Kakuzu answered coldly.
"The fact we lasted this long is already a miracle. I simply value money slightly more than normal people."
Then Kakuzu pointed at Hidan.
"This lunatic worships some evil god, enjoys killing people, and can't even communicate normally."
"Hey! Don't drag Lord Jashin into this!"
Pain fell silent.
Although he personally couldn't fully understand Kakuzu's logic, he also knew forcing incompatible teammates together was meaningless.
Akatsuki needed useful members.
Not internal chaos.
After several seconds of silence, Pain finally spoke again.
"Fine."
"You may search for new partners."
"But whoever you recruit must first be brought before me."
"I will personally determine whether they are qualified to join Akatsuki."
Pain waved his hand dismissively and turned away, clearly uninterested in continuing the discussion.
Kakuzu secretly sighed in relief.
Although things hadn't gone perfectly, this result was still far better than Hidan's reckless plan.
As for the remaining details…
He could discuss them properly with the boss later.
Meanwhile, Hidan sat there blankly.
"…That's it?"
Flashback complete.
Everyone in the Uchiha mansion's living room returned from imagining the scene described by Kakuzu.
At this moment, Hidan had once again been forcibly pinned onto the sofa by Kakuzu while Kakuzu calmly explained everything.
Everyone present silently arrived at the same conclusion.
So basically…
Hidan contributed absolutely nothing.
Hidan immediately exploded again.
"What do you mean I contributed nothing?! I was extremely important in this plan!"
Hidan quickly turned toward Chinatsu with sparkling eyes, clearly hoping for praise from his Young Lady.
Chinatsu awkwardly coughed and decisively changed the subject.
"Anyway…"
"Now that the first stage is complete, the next issue is deciding what identity I should use to infiltrate Akatsuki."
Chinatsu crossed her arms and leaned back against the sofa, looking exactly like a mafia boss planning a criminal operation.
The biggest problem was obvious.
Akatsuki already had Itachi Uchiha.
Against the Sharingan, ordinary Transformation Technique disguises were almost meaningless.
Not to mention the organization also possessed the Rinnegan, whose visual prowess surpassed even the Mangekyō Sharingan in many aspects.
Simple disguises definitely would not work.
JOIN MY PATREON TO READ ADVANCE 40+ CHAPTERS
Patreon.com/Kora_1